Coronavirus news - live: 'Completely wrong' to say Boris Johnson's mass testing plan will save Christmas, Vallance warns

Follow all the latest updates and statistics on the pandemic around the world

Matt Hancock blames testing problems on people asking for tests without symptoms

England’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance poured cold water on Operation Moon Shot, warning it is “completely wrong” to say that ministers’ proposed mass coronavirus testing regime could allow for a return to semi-normality by Christmas - just minutes after Boris Johnson touted hopes that it could.

Speaking at Downing Street, the prime minister tightened England’s coronavirus restrictions, making it illegal from Monday for people to gather in groups larger than six, with some exemptions.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Donald Trump came under fire after it was revealed he had downplayed the potential severity of the virus to ‘avoid panic’.

And case numbers continue to rise around the world - with India reporting 90,802 new confirmed infections in a 24 hour period, the nation’s highest daily spike so far.

Key Points

• Vallance pours could water on Operation Moon Shot
• Boris Johnson announces new restrictions
• Six people gathering limit might last until Christmas, says Hancock
• Hancock blames testing shortage on people without symptoms
• Hancock refuses to rule out second lockdown
• Oxford vaccine trial paused after participant falls ill
• Ban on gatherings of more than six people in England

[9 September 2020 23:26 · Vincent Wood]

Jenny Harries - 'clear plans’ in place to manage university outbreaks

The deputy chief medical officer for England has said there are "clear plans" to deal with potential outbreaks in universities, as figures show spikes in cases within age groups between 17 and 29.

Speaking on the Peston show on ITV, Dr Jenny Harries said: "There's been a lot of work with the Department for Education and higher education representatives with the universities and there are very clear plans in place including outbreak plans should there be any cases, but particularly on specific advice to students as they move potentially around the country or switch into different households."

When asked whether a university could be placed in lockdown if there were outbreaks, she said: "In the same way we would look at any environment, whether it be a focus on a workplace or a domestic residence we've seen them in family units as well or in a street, if the university was an area where we had a number of different cases, we could see a chain of transmission, then health protection teams would be looking to try and contain that."

[9 September 2020 23:41 · Vincent Wood]

Researchers develop scoring system to check risk of Covid death in patients

Experts have developed an easy-to-use score for predicting the risk of death in adults admitted to hospital with coronavirus which they say outperforms existing scores and can be used to support treatment decisions.

The 4C (Coronavirus Clinical Characterisation Consortium) Mortality Score uses readily available data to accurately categorise patients as being at low, intermediate, high, or very high risk of death.

Researchers say it should be further tested to determine its applicability in other populations, however they estimate that the accuracy is almost 100% in terms of predicting the expected versus the predicted mortality across all of the patient group.

[9 September 2020 23:51 · Vincent Wood]

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